Proceedings of the 2010 International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management Dhaka, Bangladesh, January 9 – 10, 2010

An Empirical Study of Educational Supply Chain Management for the Universities
Md. Mamun Habib, and Chamnong Jungthirapanich Graduate School of Information Technology Assumption University, Bangkok 10240, Thailand Abstract
The exploratory study addresses education supply chain and research supply chain as major constituents in the educational supply chain management model for the universities. Model constructs were identified and confirmed by 493 respondents, representing university administrators, faculty and staffs, employers, and graduates. The resulting model was subsequently evaluated for accuracy and validity by multiple linear regression (MLR) analysis and the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. The research model furnishes stakeholders of the supply chain with appropriate strategies to review and appraise their performance toward fulfillment of ultimate goals, i.e. producing high-caliber graduates and high-impact research outcomes for the betterment of the society.

1. Introduction
The goal of supply chain management (SCM) is to integrate and optimize activities within and across organizations for all stakeholders’ satisfaction. Typically, supply chains may consist of manufacturers or service providers receiving inputs from suppliers, processing these inputs, and delivering them to customers. SCM in academia, which is called Educational SCM, aims at uplifting the societal values by producing quality graduates and research findings. In the academia, one of the primary suppliers of process inputs is customers themselves. They provide their bodies and souls, minds, belongings, or information as inputs to the service processes [1]. Supply chain management is needed for various reasons: improving operations, better outsourcing, increasing profits, enhancing customer satisfaction, generating quality outcomes, tackling competitive pressures, increasing globalization, increasing importance of E-commerce, and growing complexity of supply chains [20]. Based on findings from literature review, the researchers found a large number of papers and articles in supply chain management. Most of them investigated supply chain management in the manufacturing sector [9-18, 22]. Only a few addressed issues in SCM for the service industry [2-7]. Very few focused on educational supply chain management. Just two papers [8, 9] were found to be relevant to educational supply chain management. Reference [8] proposed an educational supply chain as a tool for strategic planning in tertiary education. The study was based on a survey among employers and students. Survey findings revealed that integration and coordination among students and employers should have been promoted. Reference [9] also investigated an educational supply chain in different aspects. According to the reference [9], the development of two separate supply chains, namely a “student” supply chain and the “research” supply chain. One of the main goals of an educational supply chain is to improve the well-being of the end customer or the society. To achieve this goal, educational institutions need to have a certain degree of knowledge about the partners in their supply chains including suppliers, customers, and the consumer. The performance of the supply chain management depends on the seamless coordination of all supply chain stakeholders to ensure attainment of desirable outcomes [31].

2. Methodology
The researchers design the educational supply chain management for the universities. A supply chain involves coordination and information sharing up and down the process. For providing the clear conception of the conceptual framework, the researchers depict holistic view of educational supply chain in Fig. 1.

The aforementioned holistic view of an educational supply chain may be elaborated through a more detailed illustration in Fig.e. researchers. academic and research excellence.e. the researchers identified two major parts in the suppliers. private organizations. for academic. graduates with desirable quality and quality research outcomes are delivered to the society. i. suppliers of assets or equipment (furniture. i. Some examples are provided to depict clear ideas regarding the four aspects for both education and research in the universities [26]]: Programs Establishment: Establish faculties. Self funding students. are considered for development and assessment in both education and research part. Education Suppliers: Suppliers of the student (High school/college). the service provider. good governance. 2 that illustrates an education supply chain and a research supply chain. university culture. the society by the education supply chain and research supply chain respectively [19]. government and private organizations (scholarship). and research development. Facilities: Academic and research supportive facilities. different academic and research quality assurance programs for the assessment University Culture: Management by objectives (MBO). raw materials are students as well as internal and external projects. planning and operating level for the universities have been explored in this research model [32]. relatives. A. networking equipment.Md. source of fund – Family (Parents. The final outcomes of this supply chain. quality assessment facilities etc. the university can produce quality outcomes for the society. research development and research assessment in the university as illustrated in Fig. which are students and research projects in this conceptual model [30]. Suppliers In the conceptual model. suppliers of the faculty (Other universities). the researchers identified suppliers. including programs establishment. 2. and the consumer in this paper. This exploratory study also identifies supplied inputs.) Research Suppliers: Suppliers of internal research projects (university self-funding). which together form the educational supply chain management for the universities. Chamnong Jungthirapanich
Figure 1: Holistic view of educational supply chain Though it is very difficult to determine the supplier and customer of the intangible product in the service industry. computer. graduates with desirable quality and quality research outcomes will be delivered to the end customer. supplied outputs. Faculty Capabilities: Faculty’s academic and administrative rankings.
. Ministry of education. The researchers identified four activities. education assessment. suppliers of external research projects (external research funds. namely education suppliers and research suppliers for the universities [20. suppliers of educational materials (stationery. Mamun Habib. faculty capabilities. Both entities eventually become graduates and research findings in the educational supply chain. declare the majors etc. departments. The three decision levels including strategic. and facilities. A Service Provider A university is regarded as a service provider in this paper. instruction materials. etc. etc. contract and joint research programs etc. Finished products are graduates and research outcomes [31]. siblings). 2 represents educational supply chain management for the universities in four aspects. etc. Fig. academic and researchers performance evaluation etc. Through proper educational management.). etc. including education development. In this supply chain. The researchers represent two entities. 28]. The final outcomes of the university.) B. customers.

family (parents. research outcomes (researchers. H2: There is a relationship between research suppliers and research projects in the universities. Education Customers: Graduates. Society of manufacturing engineers etc. the final outcomes of this supply chain. findings etc. employers of government and private organizations Research Customers: Funding organizations of research projects.American trade association. Consumer The researchers identified the society as the end customer or the consumer in this educational supply chain. the structural equation modeling (SEM) has been utilized to answer the research questions. From the hypotheses. Others (research professional organizations . Customers In the conceptual model. Chamnong Jungthirapanich
Figure 2: Educational supply chain management model for the universities C. The growing interest SEM techniques and recognition of their importance in empirical research are used to test the
. the researchers identified two major parts in the customers namely education customers and research customers for the universities [20. etc. H5: There is a relationship between education customers and the society.IEEE. the following hypotheses are established [20]: H1: There is a relationship between education suppliers and students in the universities. Grocery manufacturers association. research publications. H6: There is a relationship between research customers and the society. and Trade associations .).) D. siblings.). As universities are the part of the society. From the research model. relatives. H4: There is a relationship between research outcomes and research customers. ACM. 29].Md. including graduates with desirable quality and quality research outcomes are delivered to the society. etc. INFORMS. Mamun Habib. H3: There is a relationship between graduates and education customers.

Md.000 CMIN/DF = 5. 22].001 – two tailed) between research suppliers and research outcomes in the universities. For the large scale research. 3. and 153 respondents were employers. In pretest. staff. Chamnong Jungthirapanich extent to which the research meets recognized standards for high quality statistical analysis [21. Degrees of freedom = 3. The authors represent model A and model B in this section.962 (Ratio of relative chi-square close to 5 indicate reasonable fit).17 ST . including graduates and research outcomes will be delivered to the education
. 5 = strongly agree) [23]. Model A is representing the inter relationships among different variables to justify the hypotheses 5 and 6 by structural equation modeling through AMOS 6. 174 respondents were experts in university administration.41 [0. faculty.38 [0.23 RE_PROJ
. The questionnaires were pretested to check the content validity and revised where necessary to ensure the content validity. 166 respondents were graduates.09 f RE_SUPP
ERR 4
(1)
.41 f ST + 0.886. there are two main inputs for the universities are students and research projects that have been evolved from education suppliers and research suppliers respectively. 5 and 6 in the supplied outputs of the educational supply chain management. Model A stands for supplied inputs for the university and model B represents supplied outputs of the university. In this model. Therefore. Research suppliers are the most significant factor in the university. Validity of the variables was confirmed by practitioners. faculty and staff.Supplied Outputs: Model B will test hypothesis 3. the Cronbach’s alpha value is 0. Mamun Habib. Probability level = 0.2 Model B .38 f RE_PROJ = 0. [27]. including experts in university administration. Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) equations [24] etc. Among them. graduates. The respondents were asked to indicate the level of significance after supply chain implementation using five-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree.001 – two tailed) between education suppliers and students in the universities.15 .13 f ED_SUPP] + 0. Educational supply chain management consists of supplied inputs to the university and supplied outputs of the university. all the respondents were academicians of different universities in the world.13
ERR 1
. which means the scale is excellent reliable [33]. The main outputs of the universities.720. university consists of students as well as research projects.38
RE_SUPP
ERR 5
Figure 3: Graphics output of supplied inputs in AMOS 6 Model Fit Index: CMIN = 17.1 Model A . out of 3421 respondents (14.05 f ED_SUPP + 0.23 f RE_SUPP] = 0.743 (NFI and CFI values close to 1 indicate a very good fit) [25] From the research finding.961. research hypotheses 1 and 2 fail to reject. etc. employers. The researchers conduct a survey among stakeholders. This equation also depicts the relation of education suppliers and research suppliers with the university. The factor that highly contributed to the university is students. F University = 0. 3. Equation (1).05
ERR
. as well as academicians. graphics output in Fig. the surveys were collected.41% are usable) to obtain maximum likelihood estimates of standardized regression weights.41
ED_SUPP
University . 4. 3 and above all statistical discussion on AMOS 6 states that there is a significant relationship (at the level 0. CFI = 0.Supplied Inputs: Model A will test hypothesis 5 and hypothesis 6 in the supplied inputs of the educational supply chain management. Results
In the scale reliability test. totally 493 from all stakeholders. NFI = 0. It also proves that there is a significant relationship (at the level 0.02 .
3.

481. 4.e. The authors defined the society as the function of graduates and research outcomes.36 .34 f Grad] + 0. F Society = 0.11
ERR
. Probability level = . Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) analysis and hypotheses developed.61 Society
GRAD
.09 f RE_OUT
ERR 4
(2)
. i. Finally. well-being society would be possible if quality graduates and quality research outcomes would be produced by the university through successful educational supply chain management.61 [0.61 [0. 110-24
. and Simkin. “Strategy and tactics: marketing leisure facilities”. Therefore.37 .001 – two tailed) between education customers and the society.61 f RE_CUS = 0. Society = f (Graduates. Education customers and research customers have equal contribution to the society. 13 No. Pitman Publishing. M. Discussion
The researchers used AMOS 6. Degrees of freedom = 3. Research Outcomes) Therefore. 4 and above all statistical discussion on AMOS 6 states that there are significant relationships (at the level 0. Chamnong Jungthirapanich customers and research customers respectively. 4.896. This equation also depicts that education customers.15 f RE_OUT] = 0. the society. 1993.21 f Grad + 0.001 CMIN/DF = 5.61 f ED_CUS + 0. Equation (2). CFI = 0. NFI = 0. research customers are included in the society. for Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to analyze the reliability and validity of the data. This paper provides a novel approach to developing and assessing SCM application in the academia. and research customers and the society. research outcomes and research customers.
5.34 ED_CUS . The equation (2) represents that graduates are highly contributed to the society. powerful statistical software. Logistics and Supply Chain Management. 3.. Mamun Habib. 5 and 6 fail to reject. USA [2] Dibb. New York. including human resource contribution and research contribution.001 – two tailed) between graduates and education customers. The Services Industries Journal.02
ERR
.15 RE_CUS
. i.Md. The applicability of the model can be confirmed empirically.911 (NFI and CFI values close to 1 indicate a very good fit) [25] From the research finding. The interrelationships among all educational supply chain components are investigated and confirmed by Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique. Equation (2) represents that graduates are highly contributed to the end customer.. the society consists of graduates and research outcomes. L. However. all outcomes will be generated for the betterment of the society. The research framework provides two contributions to the end customer. and both have equal contribution to the society. pp.494 (Ratio of relative chi-square close to 5 indicate reasonable fit) [27]. the society. research hypotheses 3. Vol. 1994. From the research findings of equation (1).
References
[1] Christopher.61
RE_OUT
ERR 5
Figure 4: Graphics output of supplied outputs in AMOS 6 Model Fit Index: CMIN = 16. S. graphics output in Fig. Model B is representing the inter relationships among different variables to justify the hypotheses 3. It also demonstrates that there are significant relationships (at the level 0.e. model evaluation by actual implementation is suggested for prospective investors or current university administrators.
4. 5 and 6 by structural equation modeling through AMOS 6. students and research suppliers are highly contributed to the universities. Conclusion
Survey findings would be used to develop the educational supply chain management model for the universities to enhance operations within the supply chain.